Another day has passed and there seems to be no sign of ending the stand-off between Michael Jordan and NASCAR. This whole anti-trust lawsuit business has been raging for a couple of months now, and it’s only getting worse day by day. To sum up, very briefly, the media rights deal comes into effect in 2025, and with that comes the charter agreement. NASCAR’s bigwigs strong-armed most of the Cup teams into signing the agreement. However, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports stood firm against them and jointly filed the anti-trust lawsuit.

In the following weeks, both sides have been taking potshots at each other. The latest information on the saga is that there have been some unfulfilled promises from NASCAR’s end, towards Tony Stewart. Even if the promise is still valid, they have been adding caveats to the deal in order to get FRM and 23XI to back off. It’s getting to a point where Jordan is getting more bullish and Denny Hamlin is also getting increasingly outspoken. Hamlin’s latest jibe read, “Well hidden tweet.” in response to Bob Pockrass’ report. In essence, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver is insinuating that things are about to get very interesting indeed.

Recently, the journalist published an article that recapped the details of the anti-trust lawsuit saga. According to Pockrass, “These cases sometimes have arguments over procedure. Typical preliminary injunction process: motion filed, other side files response, requester files reply & then hearing. But NASCAR says because 23XI/FRM reply filed yesterday incl new allegations that should have been in original motion that they should get to respond again or new info to be stricken. NASCAR says teams indicate the new info filed is appropriate for things said in NASCAR response.”

As many in the NASCAR community would know, the #11 driver is notorious for being outspoken. Regardless of whether he is on track or on social media. Barely a day ago, the Joe Gibbs Racing driver elected to emulate Pulp Fiction’s Jules Winnfield. To be precise, he dropped a Biblical verse implying that information that is hidden will eventually come to light.

That was in response to NASCAR choosing to fight dirty and getting very personal. The organization alleged that they had some redacted driver emails that implicated 23XI Racing. According to them, the team was organizing a coordinated effort to manufacture proof of potentially irreparable harm. Naturally, 23XI President Steve Lauletta staunchly denied the claim, and the situation is getting uglier.

This whole saga has been dragging on since October and there are so many layers to this. In the courtrooms, both sides have put forward their arguments on a renewed motion for preliminary injunction. On Wednesday, the case was reassigned to Judge Kenneth Bell. The previous judge Frank Whitney, initially ruled that teams had to show more than speculative irreparable harm to get an injunction. So when Denny Hamlin claimed that it was a ‘well-hidden tweet,’ he was implying that NASCAR had something to hide.

What has got the two NASCAR teams so upset?

As per 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports, circumstances have changed. The new conditions are that there is a week’s deadline to purchase one of the remaining Stewart-Haas Racing charters. Both organisations’ terms are simple, they want to sign the charter agreements and get NASCAR to approve the SHR charter transfer. However, they do not want to give up the right to pursue the antitrust lawsuit.

Both teams revealed that the charter agreements had a clause that can be interpreted that they are giving up the right to sue. Front Row Motorsports general manager Jerry Freeze claimed that NASCAR approved the SHR charter transfer. However, it later transpired that NASCAR worked in a new clause where they had to drop the antitrust lawsuit to get the approval.

The risk of running as an open team is that they could lose drivers and sponsors. Even worse, both teams could potentially miss races, which will have huge championship implications. NASCAR’s plan is to have 32 chartered teams, leaving eight open spots for each race. Apparently, the next court appearance will happen on December 16, so the situation is still up in the air. What are your thoughts on the current events? Let us know in the comments below.